1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to oil well plug and abandonment operations. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved method wherein strings of tubular members such as production tubing, casing and the like are pulled from the well bore a length at a time, wherein at least some of the tubular members are concentric sections with concrete therebetween and wherein a single shearing cut is made through multiple of the concentric layers and the concrete using a pair of opposed blades that shear the concentric layers and the concrete.
2. General Background of the Invention
Presently, plug and abandonment of an oil well utilizes cold cutting of the sections of tubulars as they are removed from the well. This cold cutting is done with a saw. Coal cutting is very time consuming. It can be complicated if layers of concrete are provided in addition to multiple layers of tubular members such as multiple layers of casing. Concrete or cement must be manually removed by hammer and/or chisel.
Another method of cutting tubulars that are being removed from an oil well is to manually cut with a cutting torch. However, such use of cutting torches can generate injury or death if a pocket of natural gas is trapped in between layers of casing or tubing. Such a pocket of gas can be ignited by the open flame of a cutting torch generating an explosion.
The cutting and removal of sections of tubular production pipe, production casing or the like from an oil well is thus a time consuming and potentially hazardous activity.